I cannot stress enough the importance of using the right paper for your printer. Companies spend Big Bucks to test their paper with their printer and their inks.

Most of us, I’m sure, buy bulk generic paper. That’s fine for most things but printing images where you need detail is surely worth a little more time, effort and expense.

You can however, combine the two. First, go out and buy a box or packet of premium paper [not glossy, or glossy photo] of the same brand as your printer.

Store it away somewhere safe as you will only use it by choice and not daily.

As an example, let’s take an epacket that has 8 pages. The first one is B & W text; the next 4 have color images, the next two are B&W diagrams and the last one is a full size color photo.

You will need 8 pieces of paper that you will layer in order. The first piece of paper can be generic, THEN TAKE 4 PIECES OF YOUR PREMIUM PRINTER BRAND PAPER, then 2 pieces of generic paper AND THE LAST PIECE WILL BE PREMIUM PRINTER BRAND.

(It’s important that you understand how your printer prints pages – first page first or last page first so pay attention to your printing before doing this as you’ll be wasting both ink and paper if they are in the wrong order. Also make sure that you put the paper in the right way up or down. Know your printer well!)

This way you will have good quality images on the pages that matter. It really, really works. It is buying the printer brand of paper specifically for your printer that is the most important.

I didn’t think that many decorative artists were too familiar with RSS so I looked for a way for people to subscribe via email. That means when I write a new post, it will be emailed to them. MUCH easier for the majority. So now I’ve learned about themes, widgets and RSS. What fun. So go ahead and subscribe. I don’t write all that often. 🙂

You’ll find it on the right, and you will be asked to confirm your subscription before it is activated so look in your sp*m or junk mail folder if you don’t receive the confirmation email. Login in at the very bottom – right.

I use Skype a lot. My family is in England and we use it with a webcam to chat often. I have also found it useful for client chats as I can put a headphone on and type with both hands. I find it impossible to type with one hand!

Skype is a free program that goes computer to computer. All you need is a microphone and in a lot of computers, they are built in. If you would like to contact me via Skype, please email for my user name as I have it restricted to only people on my contact list. It’s very easy to use and the quality is often better than a cell phone.